FIXTURE
Saturday 22 September Home to Didcot Town F A Cup 2nd Qualifying Round kick off 3.00pm.
If the game is drawn the replay will be at Didcot on Tuesday 25 September kick off 7.45pm.
The prize for the winners is £9,000.

PLAYER NEWS

Noah Chesmain has had his loan extended through to 26 December. We thank Colchester United F C for allowing this to happen.
Toby Syme has joined joining Kings Langley.
Jay Dowie, Kieran McCaffrey and Elliot Bailey all played for Hertford on Tuesday. Jay will return to our squad tomorrow.

LEAGUE CUP
Hitchin will be away to Royston in the first round. This is due to be played week commencing 1 October.

HITCHIN TOWN UNDER 18s
Our under 18’s were beaten 1-0 by Grays Athletic in the F A Youth Cup on Thursday evening in front of a crowd of 71. They had plenty of chances and were unlucky to lose.

HITCHIN TOWN LADIES FC
Callum Ellis reports on another win for the Ladies:

Local Derby Day!!

Game week two in the Beds & Herts Women’s League Division Two and it was Hitchin Belles v Hitchin Town Ladies FC. First derby of the game the season and it was a warm summers day and put the Ladies to the test. Today saw the arrival of our International player Kitri Simon and new signing Robyn Wilford from Luton Town Ladies FC.

The game started with the Belles kicking the game off and within the first minute the Belles had pressed and won the first corner of the game. The Ladies responded and pushed for a corner which the Belles cleared and quickly turned the counter on us. However it was Hawkridge that snuffed out the counter and pushed it out for a throw. The game started to open up within the first 10 minutes with both teams sharing an equal amount of possession.

Wilford picked up a knock and was subbed and replaced by our international player! The Belles started to push the Ladies back into their half as they applied pressure. The Belles broke through but they found Thompson’s hand who calmed down the play. The football started to flow for the Ladies and the play linked up along the wings as we pushed into the Belles half. Chaffey put Gash through the Belles defence and she closed the keeper down and threw herself into the challenge and poked the ball past the keeper— 1 -0 to Hitchin Town Ladies FC.

Belles got us back underway but the Ladies piled the pressure onto the Belles and put them on the back foot. Belles still fought hard and sent a long ball over the top of the defence but it was calmly collected by Thompson. Cain-Murnane threw herself into a challenge but the ball smacked her into the face and play was stopped for a head injury. Play was restarted and the Belles attacked Hitchin but Smith calmly dealt with the attack and the referee blew for half time.

Franklin & Hawkridge made way for Wilford & Holland and it was the Ladies who pushed to find the second. Winter placed a ball into in the box which was met by Chaffey’s left foot but was straight at the keeper. Belles responded well and continued to press the Ladies but Cain-Murnane headed away and then a wild shot from the edge of the box was saved by Thompson who quickly responded to the follow up shot. Still 1-0 to Hitchin Town Ladies FC.

Play was stopped when a Belles player hit the ground, first aid was given and the player was all good to continue later on in the game. Franklin came on for Simon who played her heart out on her debut. Franklin took on the Belles left side and swung a ball into the box but there was no player on the end to convert the cross. Another chance came for the Ladies when Chaffey passed the ball to Gash after an error by the keeper but she quickly recovered from the mistake.

The Ladies continued to press the Belles with through balls which proved difficult for their defence to clear. Gash capitalised on each error of the defence giving them no time on the ball . Each Belles attack was dealt with by the Ladies defence. The ball kept coming back as the Belles pushed for the equaliser. The Belles pushed the Ladies to the limit and nearly put the ball in the net but it was headed wide after another save from Thompson.

The referee blew for full time and Hitchin Town Ladies FC walked away with 3 points and a clean sheet.

The Ladies now sit first in League Two and play Wheathampstead at Offley Recreational Ground, Kings Walden Road with a 2.00pm kick off on Sunday 23 September. Come and support your new look local ladies football team!

PLAYERS FINES
Following on from last week there follows more examples of the fines system our players are subject to with all proceeds going towards their end of season tour:

Missing a game -£20 no excuses will be accepted.
Late to training -£5 with an increase of £5 every 10 minutes.
Adam Parker scoring against you in training -£5 per player.
Losing by more than 3 goals in training -£2 per player.
Late to a game -£10 with an increase of £5 every 10 minutes.
Using phones after 13.30pm/18.30pm on match days -£5.
No tracksuit -£5 -must be worn into changing room.
Missing on curry night /after training pizza -£5.

More next week.

MARK BURKE ON DIDCOT
We have had Didcot watched and our scout was very impressed by them. We know from last year’s League Cup final Didcot are a good side and it will be a very difficult game on Saturday. I hope we can continue to build on our recent performances with just one defeat in six games but we will need to be at our best to get a result.

I hope our supporters come out in force as they can make a difference. So please get behind the team as this is a very important game with the size of the prize money.

ROY IZZARD

If you enjoyed this article, we'd love you to share it with your friends via the social media buttons below. Please also let us know your thoughts on this article.
Meet us over on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram to join the conversation right now!

Get Involved! To share your Hitchin news & events, email details with a link to more information and any imagery to share@hitchindailyprss.co.uk or hashtag your pictures and stories with #Hitchin on social networks so we can locate them!

We are share-crazy, so if you blog or write about Hitchin or live in Hitchin and run a blog, let us know and we will add your feed to Hitchin Daily PRSS! If you would like to share Hitchin news, report a missing pet, post an event, or advertise on our site, contact us today!